A Light At The End Of The Tunnel
by neshiko
Summary: This takes place after chapters 222/223. Fuji was hit in the head by Kirihara and lost his sight. What if after chapter 223, he couldn’t see the flag?
1. Prologue

GAME SET FUJI- SEVEN GAMES TO FIVE

Fuji Syuusuke smirked. He had beaten Kirihara. He moved toward the net to shake his opponent's hand. He was sweeping his feet the slightest bit, so he could tell where he was walking. He stuck out his hand and  
-WHUMP-  
Fuji felt something fall into him at the net. It must've been Kirihara. He listened to his breathing.

"It's alright, he's just tired!" Fuji called to the Rikkai team.

Some of his teammates came to the court to escort him off.  
"Yooooshi!"  
"As expected of Fuji-sempai!"  
"Even though he couldn't see…"  
"We're still in the game!"

He felt Ooishi's arm around his shoulder, as if leading him back to the team bench. Fuji felt grateful he didn't have to lose his grace.  
"Fuji, are you alright?" Ooishi asked.  
"U…un. I think so. It should go away in awhile," Fuji replied grabbing the back of his head, "Ow."

"Sit here, and I'm going to get Ryuuzaki-sensei"  
"Please…Ooishi-kun, I think I'm fine…"

Ooishi turned around to see their coach right behind him.

"Fuji, look at me," Ryuuzaki commanded.  
Fuji turned his head up, but had no idea where to "look".

She put two fingers under Fuji's chin and lifted it higher.  
"I'm up here, Fuji," she said gently, pulling a pen out of her pocket, "Keep you eyes on the pen."

"I-I-I can't…see anything."  
"Not even when I do this?" she said as she moved it back and forth.

"I need to check something else, Fuji," she pulled him toward her chest.

She held his head in her arms, running her fingers around his skull. She lifted her fingers to see a minute amount of blood. "Uh-oh," she thought as he collapsed in her arms.

* * *

End of the prologue.

How'd you like it? Please tell me!


	2. Before Fuji Wakes Up

"I'm going to be honest with you, Mrs. Fuji. We don't know how permanent it is, but we're doing all we can. The surgery we performed yesterday should alleviate the pressure on his brain. This worst that could happen is that there is no change. The best would be a full restore of his eyesight," the doctor patted Fuji's mother's shoulder as he left.

It was the 2 days after the tournament. Fuji was sleeping in his room, while Mrs. Fuji talked with Yuuta and Saeki, waiting for him to wake up. The Seigaku regulars were all hanging around, waiting for Tezuka to come.

* * *

It was boring, sitting around, and not having anything to do.

Momo couldn't stand it anymore. "P-E-Z-O-L-C-F-T-D"  
"What's that, Momo?" Ooishi turned around, "Oh, the eye chart? Wow, we're even more than 20 feet and you can see that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Momo said.  
Ooishi walked up to the chart and started counting. "Are you joking Momo? That's 20/10!"  
"Is that good?" Momo asked.  
"That's nothing guys," said Saeki, standing by himself at the window. "I can see the P-E-Z-O-L-C-F-T-D line from over here"  
"Are you really human? Well, if I go 4 steps closer, to the line, I can see the D-E-F-P-O-T-E-C line"  
"Ooishi must need glasses, he can't see anything!" Eiji joked.  
"Eiji, that's mean! I can see 20/20," Ooishi replied.  
"Ooishi-fukubuchou, you must, I can see down farter than that," Echizen said as he walked up behind the Golden Pair, with the rest of the team.  
"Ii data," Inui said.

Inui had them all line up so he could collect data.  
"Fuji!"  
"Hey, why are you testing me?"  
"Data."  
"What? Oh, okay. L-E-F-O-D-P-C-T"  
"Great, that's 20/12.5"

"Ooishi!"  
"D-E-F-P-O-T-E-C"  
"Maybe you should get your eyes checked, that's 20/20," was the data master's diagnosis.  
"Hey!"

"Taka-san"  
"L-E-F-O-D-P-C-T"  
"Ah, 20/15, good"

"Eiji!"  
"F-E-L-O-P-Z-D"  
"Is that all?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"You have the worst eyesight on the team, Eiji"  
"That can't be! I have good eyesight!"  
"Eiji, 20/25 isn't 'good', it's actually not so good."  
"Ooishi, I don't want glasses, nya…"

"Kaidoh!"  
"L-E-F-O-D-P-C-T"  
"Well…" Inui started.  
"AH! I'M BETTER THAN THE MAMUSHI!" Momo exclaimed.

"Shut up guys, I want to see what Inui gets," Eiji said.  
"Of course I can see L-E-F-O-D-P-C-T," Inui replied.  
"No, wait, gimme your glasses!" Eiji joked as he bounced around and took Inui's glasses.  
"Alright Inui, what can you see?" Ooishi asked.

"What's that?"  
"I can't."  
"Go 10 feet closer"  
"E."  
"WHA-A-AT?" the team yelled, falling down, laughing.

The team was laughing so hard that they didn't hear someone coming down the hallway.

"10 LAPS AROUND THE HOSPITAL, NOW!"  
"Tezuka-san?"  
"Tezuka-kun?"  
"Buchou?"  
"Tezuka?"

"Now! Except Ooishi. GO!" the captain yelled.  
"H-h-hai!"

"How is he?"  
"Well, we don't know yet. Everyone has been pretty restless, because Fuji-kun is still sleeping…"  
"Aa."

The captain and vice captain sat down on the couch in the hallway lounge, talking about things, nothing important, nothing friendly, just obligatory things to pass the time.

The team came back from their running.  
Inui spoke first. "It appears Fuji is still asleep. Tezuka, to continue my data can I test your eyes?"  
"If you must…"  
Tezuka walked up to the line, and slipped off his glasses. "I can read the big E."  
"Hm. Better than I thought, 20/200"  
"Hey!" Tezuka exclaimed as Eiji stole his glasses.  
He put them on and stood at the 20-foot line. "Kikumaru, give me my glasses back!"  
"OH-GOD-HOW-CAN-YOU-S-" and Eiji fell over.  
"Eiji, Eiji, are you alright?" Ooishi knelt next to his partner.  
"Yeah, I guess. Here Tezuka, you can have them back," Eiji said sheepishly.  
"Don't take them again!"

"Tezuka?" Fuji's voice drifted out into the hallway.

* * *

Some humor before the actual story. I got the idea from the databook 40.5. On their data sheets for some reason it has their eye-sight decimal...in case you were wondering, here's what everyone's was:

Echizen-1.5  
Tezuka (with glasses)-1.5  
Ooishi- 0.9, 1.0 (LR)  
Fuji S.- 1.2, 1.0 (LR)  
Kikumaru-1.0, 0.8 (LR)  
Inui (with glasses)- 1.5  
Kawamura-1.5, 1.2 (LR)  
Momoshiro-2.0  
Kaidoh- 1.5

Fuji Y.-1.2  
Saeki-2.5

1.0 is equal to 20/20 "normal" vision, however, most people with healthy vision are are about 20/16 to 20/12 or 1.2 to 1.5.  
Saeki's 2.5 vision is abnormally good. I don't know if it's humanly possible!


	3. Change of Lifestyle

Fuji was sitting up in bed, head cocked towards the door.  
"Inui, go see if you can find the doctor. Fuji-kun, go find your mother," Tezuka ordered.  
"Hai!" chorused Inui and Yuuta.

Fuji and Tezuka were alone together.  
"Nice hair cut…"  
"Oh, yeah, haha," Fuji gingerly felt around his head.

The doctors had clipped his hair shorter in the back to perform the surgery. Whoever had brushed his hair had parted it wrong; Fuji always parted his hair in the middle, now it was parted to the side. He also had a bandage on the back of his head.  
"Can you get me some water, Tezuka?" Fuji asked.  
"A, ah." Tezuka got up and poured him a glass of water. He noticed that Fuji had put his hand out. "Here you go, be careful" he placed the styrofoam cup in Fuji's hand. He didn't let go however, and followed Fuji's hand with his own.  
"I'm okay, Tezuka, don't worry so much about me," Fuji smiled.

* * *

There was a knock on the door.  
"Syuusuke, the doctor is here to see you know. As with myself, Inui-kun, Ryuuzaki-san," Mrs. Fuji said.

"All right, Fuji, can you see this?" the doctor shined a pen light in his eye.  
"Yes," Fuji said.  
"Now concentrate on it, as I move it back and forth," Fuji tracked the little pen light, "Now tell me if you can see anything," The doctor said, turning off the little light as he waved his hand in Fuji's face.  
"Yeah, sort of."

"Okay, now, can you tell me where the window is in the room?"

"It's over there, but I can't tell anything else," Fuji pointed at the wall with the window.  
"Yes, yes, that's good," the doctor took down notes, "Well, Mr. Fuji, you can probably go home today, and even go to school when summer vacation is over next month. Did you already get into the high school you applied to?"  
"Yes…" Fuji said, dismayed. He'll probably not be able to go regular classes now.  
"Don't worry, we've already gotten class assignments, I'll take care of him," Tezuka volunteered.  
"Thank you so much, Tezuka-kun," Mrs. Fuji said, and turned to the doctor, "Is there anything we can do?"  
"Well, we can try an experimental operation, but we can't even consider that for about two weeks, he has to heal some first," the doctor offered.

* * *

A few days later, Tezuka was spending the night at Fuji's. The pair was in his room, listening to the radio. Fuji was lying on top of his bed, staring at the ceiling. Tezuka was sitting in Fuji's rocking chair. It was already late night.

"Tezuka."

"Turn off the radio." Tezuka fumbled with the switch and turned it off  
"What's up?"  
"What do you mean, 'What's up?' I'm so frustrated! And that Kirihara had enough nerve..."  
"Any apology is better than none, Fuji," Tezuka said gently.

_ Earlier that day, the doorbell rang, but neither Tezuka nor Fuji was interested in getting it. A few moments later, Mrs. Fuji stepped into the room, followed by 3 boys in Rikkai uniforms.  
"Syuusuke, these boys have something to say to you," Mrs. Fuji said as she left the room.  
"I should introduce myself. My name is Yagyuu Hiroshi...I played Doubles 1 with..."  
"Nioh! That's me." Nioh interjected.  
"Nioh-kun, that's not polite. Anyhow, Fuji-san, we came to check up on you..." Yagyuu trailed off.  
Fuji sat up, "I'm fine, except for this," he waved his hand in front of his face.  
"And that's why we brought this," Nioh replied.  
"What?" Fuji asked._

_Nioh and Yagyuu grabbed their teammate and tried to force him to bow. He was smacked by Nioh before he consented.  
"I'm sorry."  
"GET. OUT. OF . HERE." Fuji said through clenched teeth.  
"Hey, I said I was sorry!"  
"This can't just be fixed with an 'I'm sorry', Kirihara," Fuji tried to calm himself.  
"What's your problem?" Kirihara sneered.  
-SMACK-  
Yagyuu had smacked Kirihara upside the head.  
"Akaya, you better make this right..." Yagyuu said after he sent him reeling.  
"Kirihara! 15 laps around the Fuji house!" Tezuka who had been silent, chimed in.  
"Why?"  
"DO IT!"  
"Yessir!"_

_As Kirihara was trotting around the house swearing, Yagyuu apologised again.  
"We are truely sorry for what happened. If there is anything we can do, don't hesitate to contact us," Yagyuu said.  
"Thank you, I'll show you out now," Tezuka got up from his spot on the rocking chair, "Be right back, Fuji."_

_Fuji heard another smack land on Kirihara and Nioh start laying into him. This didn't make him feel any happier, and he burst into tears._

_Tezuka walked back to the room, only to stop at the door. He watched his teammate sob his heart out. He went to sit on the bed, next to Fuji._

_"Oohh, Fuji..." he started, "What's wrong? Does it hurt?" Tezuka moved to pur his arm around Fuji's shoulder.  
"Don't...DON'T TOUCH ME!"  
Tezuka shifted his weight on the bed, and gripped Fuji's hand. "Wait a min..."  
Fuji interrupted him by taking his hand back, and pushing Tezuka away. He promptly got up and sat back in the rocking chair. Fuji knew Tezuka was hurt, but not as hurt as he.  
"Fuji, please listen to me, you..."  
"NO! I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN ANYMORE! I JUST WANT TO GET AWAY FROM IT!"  
"You have to listen to me, Fuji, please just..."  
"NO! PLEASE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, TEZUKA!"  
Fuji laid back down on the bed, hands behind his head. "I just don't care anymore. Whatever."_

"Fuji! What do you want? I'll help you do one thing," Tezuka declared and thought to himself, "I can't let him get too depressed."  
"I can't play tennis. I don't want anything besides that!" Fuji said quietly, "I'm sitting here, but I can't see. How could I could play tennis!?"  
"…I understand."

"NO YOU DON'T! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, NO ONE DOES!" Fuji got up from the bed and raged, "I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS! I TRIED SO HARD, JUST FOR THE TEAM! I SHOULD HAVE NEVER DONE IT!"  
"Fuji…" Tezuka's voice was starting to waver. Fuji's emotions were all over the place; Tezuka didn't know what to do.  
"DON'T 'FUJI' ME! I'M SO TIRED OF THIS!" he took a step towards Tezuka and tripped on the edge of the rug.

"JUST GET OUT OF HERE, TEZUKA! I CAN'T STAND YOU BEING HERE, PITYING ME!" Fuji yelled from the floor.  
"I'm not!" Tezuka stood up and grabbed Fuji's hand.  
"PLEASE…just…get…out…of…here," Fuji said, concentrating his anger as he was pulled into Tezuka's embrace.  
"Okay, but not without you!"

As Tezuka led Fuji out of the room, he grabbed Fuji's tennis bag from behind his bedroom door.  
"Where are we going?" Fuji asked, alarmed.  
"Nowhere. Now c'mon," Tezuka was literally dragging Fuji by the hand.

* * *

So far, is it okay? Much more serious than the previous chapter...  
Well, I was looking at 10.5 for this scene, at Fuji's bedroom. I wonder why Fuji would have a rocking chair in his room...?


	4. A Sphere Of Light

It was so late that the lights were already out at the tennis courts.

"We're here," Tezuka announced.  
"Where are we?" Fuji asked.  
"Where do you think we are?" Tezuka challenged.  
"Don't play with me…I'll leave." Fuji countered.  
"Could you really? If you can't see, use your other senses. Smell it."  
"…tennis court?"  
"We're going to practice, okay?"

Tezuka led him to the practice wall, and stood behind Fuji. He placed the racquet in Fuji's left hand.  
"Tezuka, what are you doing? Even if I could play, I'm a righty."  
"Because I'm left handed"  
"Wha…?"

Tezuka stood behind him, and placed his left hand on Fuji's grip, and his right hand guided around Fuji's right.  
"Now throw the ball in the air"  
"I can't"  
"Oh yes you can! Do you want to be dropped from the regulars?"

Fuji tossed the ball in the air.  
Tezuka guided Fuji's racquet and served the ball.  
"This feels weird, I can't play left handed!"  
"Fuji, just try this for me!" said Tezuka, full of spirit.

The ball hit the wall and bounced back.  
"Now, do it again," Tezuka nudged gently as he guided the racquet again.  
Fuji felt the familiar pressure in his wrist when ball contacts racquet strings. Although it felt backwards, it was a refreshing feeling.  
"Okay, I'm gonna let go, now hit it on your own," Tezuka stepped back.  
"W-w-wait- Tezuka come back!" Fuji yelled. He hit the ball, and instinctively switched the racquet to his right hand. He hit it a few more times before he missed. Fuji just stood there.  
"Now what, Tezuka?" Fuji sneered. He was getting angry again.  
"We play with this," Tezuka held up a glowing tennis ball. He had purchased a glowing tennis ball from the equipment store, and had Inui fix it up so that it was brighter than the brightest light bulb. It was especially visible because it was almost pitch black on the courts.  
"Oh, what's that?" Fuji asked, "Hey, I can see that!"  
"Good. Let's play then. I know you can feel the presence of the ball, but try to look for it and strengthen your eye muscles"  
"How do we know when it's out? You mustn't be able to see well if it's pitch black."  
"Who cares?" Tezuka shrugged.

After casually hitting the ball for a half an hour, they sat down on a bench to talk.  
"Let's play a real game," Fuji said.  
"How can we do that?" Tezuka was a little surprised.  
"Someone's hiding here, taking data. Inui, you're here aren't you?" Fuji called out.  
"Ii data. How did you know I was here?" Inui asked.  
"You smell like AOZU," Fuji smiled.  
"Fair enough. Kaidoh, Ooishi, Kikumaru, Echizen, come on out!" Inui said, "Sit at each corner of the court, and judge, alright?"  
"Hai!" came the chorus of voices.  
"Oh, and we need to even this a little bit. Tezuka, give me your glasses," Inui said.  
"No. I need them to see"  
"Wow, that's insensitive," Fuji chided.  
Tezuka reluctantly volunteered his lenses.

"This is so exciting, nya Ooishi!" Eiji bounced around.  
"Oh, and I'm going to use glow-in-the-dark chalk so you guys can see the lines," Inui said, taking a stick of chalk and going round the courts.

After the game with Kirihara, it was declared that Fuji was surpassing Tezuka. Now the data was proven.

GAME SET FUJI- SIX GAMES TO FOUR

* * *

If you've read this far, you must believe in me. :)


	5. Epilogue

A week later, Fuji came out of the operating room. He blearily opened his eyes.  
"Mom? Yuuta? Tezuka?"  
The doctor came up, "Mr. Fuji, can you follow my finger with your eyes?" he said as he moved his hand back and forth, "Good, good. Now can you read that chart for me?"  
"Well, I can read the E, but I'm happy I can see that far," Fuji smiled at the doctor.  
"We can get you glasses to fix the rest, okay?"

Fuji came to practice the next day, sporting his new glasses and haircut to the rest of the team. He decided to leave his hair parted on the side to go with his new look.

"Fuji!" Eiji came running up, "Lemme see your glasses!"  
"Wait, Eiji," Fuji warned.  
Eiji slid them on and promptly fell over, "T-t-they're worse than…Tezuka's."  
"Eiji!" Ooishi ran over to them, "Nice glasses Fuji. Come on now Eiji," Ooishi said, dragging a half-fainted Eiji by the foot back to the courts.

"Tezuka," Fuji came up behind the captain.  
"Fuji. You seem to be doing well."  
"Yes. How can I thank you?"  
"Get contacts, we look too similar now."

* * *

How was it? Was it okay? Please tell me!


End file.
